Also known as: accroaches · accroached · accroaching · accrocher · usurp · encroach
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To exercise power without legal authorization. The action invades the domain of another branch, officer, or body that holds exclusive authority over the matter.
Adrian Aguilar, an EPA official, received a directive from the Department of Commerce to seize editorial control of a private news portal despite statutes limiting such access. He implemented the takeover without congressional approval. The court held the action invalid because it exercised power in direct conflict with legislative limits.
Anita Ali owned land in a flood zone. County officials enacted an interim ordinance barring all construction and enlargement of structures on her parcel. The measure asserted regulatory power that displaced the owner's established property rights without statutory backing for permanent prohibition.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Alan Ackerman, a member of a sentencing commission staffed partly by judges, promulgated binding guidelines for criminal penalties. Congress had delegated the task but provided no intelligible principle limiting the commission's discretion. The guidelines were upheld because the delegation did not undermine the judiciary's integrity or usurp functions of other branches.
Arthur Abrams published materials advocating overthrow of government. State prosecutors applied a criminal anarchy statute to the speech even though the First Amendment had not yet been incorporated against the states. The conviction rested on state exercise of power later found to exceed constitutional bounds.
Aaron Adams, a member of Congress, inserted a provision in legislation granting legislators authority to appoint members of a federal election commission. The statute purported to transfer appointment power from the executive branch. The provision was invalidated as an improper legislative encroachment on executive functions.
Ariana Azizi won election to the House of Representatives. The House refused to seat her on grounds of prior misconduct even though she met all constitutional qualifications. The exclusion was ruled an unauthorized assertion of power beyond the chamber's limited authority to judge qualifications.
Accroach requires an affirmative assertion of power that belongs to another branch or office. An honest mistake within one's own sphere does not constitute accroach. The key is invasion of an exclusive domain without legal warrant.
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Yes. When a partner diverts an opportunity that arose through partnership resources or position without disclosure, the partner exercises power reserved to the partnership entity. Courts treat the diverted benefit as held in trust for the partnership.
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No. The term reaches any exercise of power without authority, including corporate officers who seize opportunities belonging to the entity or shareholders who attempt to dictate management decisions reserved to the board.
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…not contend that such a provision would confer a regulating power; but it is evident that it would furnish, to men disposed to usurp, a plausible pretence for claiming that power." Id. , at 579. The Ninth Amendment and the Tenth Amendment, which provides, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the…